ΣΔΤ Blog

Sisterhood Bonds Between a Grandmother and Granddaughter, by Daryn Foster

By SDT Headquarters,

I am a proud legacy of Sigma Delta Tau Sorority. I was initiated exactly 50 years after my maternal grandmother, Vivian Mosko, who went through the same ceremony at the Alpha Delta Chapter at the University of Colorado in 1957. My grandmother truly embodies what Sigma Delta Tau stands for and is an empowered woman.

daryn foster and grandmother

Daryn and her grandmother, Vivian, at her Bat Mitzvah.

Vivian was born in Poland just before World War II began. Her father died before she was one. When she was four, her mother arranged to have a Catholic family take Vivian and get her out of the Warsaw ghetto before she died in the ghetto uprising.  The Catholic family raised her until after the war was over and she was safe.  Vivian was then taken to an orphanage for children displaced during the war. The orphanage sent out lists to synagogues all over the world with the names of children who were living there and looking for their families. Fortunately, an uncle of my grandmother’s had survived, and he was living in Denver, Colo. when he discovered his niece’s name on the list of survivors.

My grandmother remembers vividly the day that she was reunited with family.  Vivian’s uncle’s mother-in-law, a very elegant woman who had lived in Paris before the war and spoke five languages, flew from Denver to bring my grandmother to the United States to live with her uncle’s family. My grandmother describes her as an angel, and that truly is what she was.

My grandmother arrived in Denver at the age of 13 and grew into a beautiful and intelligent woman. Just six years later, Vivian was a young Jewish woman looking for a community to be a part of and that is when she found Sigma Delta Tau Sorority. She has many fond memories of her time in the sorority and describes meeting wonderful and smart women. After graduating college, she got married and had three beautiful children. She raised them to be strong and independent individuals who all went on to be extremely successful.

daryn foster mom grandmother

Daryn with her mother and grandmother on her 18th birthday.

In 2007, when I started Northeastern University, I wasn’t sold on the idea of joining a sorority, until I went through recruitment and was introduced to the amazing women of Sigma Delta Tau. I was not surprised that my grandmother had the same experience when she went to college.  My grandmother has been through so much in her life and she did whatever she needed to succeed and be happy. Vivian was empowered to live the best life she could and I am truly honored to be living in her footsteps.

About a year ago, she gave me her Sigma Delta Tau torch pin and when I wear it I feel extremely empowered and proud. I am honored to have her as my grandmother and to call her a sister.

 
Daryn Foster, Gamma Mu-Northeastern University, is a member of SDT’s National Council.



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  Comments: 1


  1. This is amazing Dar! Congrats on a beautifully written article and dedication to your grandmother. You have absolutely followed in her foot steps. 🙂

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